The Source for Art & Law Since 2005

Is purchasing a Tino Sehgal artwork really that radical?

Despite its lack of physical existence outside of the moment of actual enactment, Sehgal does sell his art — and often for quite a lot of money. His situations, or rather, the right to stage them, can be bought in editions, generally for five-figure sums, and can only be purchased by oral contract at mandatory in-person meetings between representatives from his New York City gallery, Marian Goodman, a notary and the prospective buyer; Sehgal or members of his studio are also usually present. No paper contracts, bills of sale or certificates of authenticity are exchanged.
Do these art work purchases function ...

College gallery closes exhibition after complaints about use of U.S. flag

Daniel Bejar's Rec-elections (False Flag), an 8- by 12-foot American flag based on Abraham Lincoln’s 1864 re-election campaign banner
Westchester Community College’s Fine Art Gallery is closing a solo exhibition by Daniel Bejar today, a week earlier than scheduled, after it received complaints from veterans groups about a work in which the artist rearranged the stars on the American Flag to read “fake”. Bejar sees the early closure as a case of institutional censorship, but after discussing it with the gallery’s director, he complied with the decision to take down the exhibition.
I'm quoted in this Art Newspaper article.

Satan sues for copyright infringement

The Satanic Temple filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Warner Bros. and Netflix, alleging copyright violation of its goat-headed statue, which appears in the new “Sabrina” series.
Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Temple, opines here.
If the lord of the underworld finds no subversion in copyright infringement, then you know things are getting pretty grim for content lifters.
More here.

Jeff Koons ordered to pay copyright holder big money

[caption id="attachment_10119" align="alignnone" width="300"] Franck Davidovici’s “Fait d’Hiver” ad campaign for Naf Naf (1985).[/caption]
A French judge has found Jeff Koons guilty in his four-year-long legal battle with the creator of a surreal 1980s ad campaign for a clothing brand who claims the American artist stole his work.
More here.

The Artist as Lawyer, an Interview with Sergio Munoz Sarmiento about Art Law

Hrag Vertanian of Hyperallergic invited me to join him to talk about the evolving world of art law and discuss why I went to law school as an art project, what I think about some recent sensational cases (Richard Prince/Instagram, Sam Durant at the Walker Art Center, and the recent Banksy auction stunt) and my thoughts on how appropriation has changed from the 1970s.
The October 25, 2018 podcast is available here.

“It just seemed like a way of exploiting the work of artists in the city for short-term gain in a really short sighted kind of way,” Marshall told the Chicago Tribune. “And so I made a decision at that time I would never do another public work.”

In order to protect his name, the acting executors of the Estate of Professor Stephen Hawking applied for an European trademark. Logically, they applied for the wordmark STEPHEN HAWKING. But also a remarkable trademark was filed: his voice as a soundmark.

Angry over the invasion of privacy, four owners of the condominiums in the NEO Bankside building, completed in 2012, decided to sue the museum last year. They are seeking an injunction that requires the museum to block off the part of the viewing platform where visitors are able to see into the apartments or to erect a screen.

Hrag Vertanian of Hyperallergic invited me to join him to talk about the evolving world of art law and discuss why I went to law school as an art project, what I think about some recent sensational cases (Richard Prince/Instagram, Sam Durant at the Walker Art Center, and the recent Banksy auction stunt) and my thoughts on how appropriation has changed from the 1970s.

As part of its intellectual property strategy, American (properly) sought to register its new design with the U.S. Copyright Office to protect the expression. Oddly, its application has crashed and burned at the U.S. Copyright Office, leaving a lot of questions with few decent answers.

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